Rotary crankless machine

Abstract

A rotary crankless machine in which there is a rotary shaft, a rotary cylinder block, and a stationary housing, all concentrically disposed about a common axis and in which the housing has a central annular manifold block with inlet and outlet passages disposed midway between the ends of the housing. The rotary cylindrical block and shaft are rotatably coupled together and the rotary cylindrical block has a pair of sets of inwardly directed cylinders each of which extends from adjacent the outer wall of the cylinder block inwardly towards the manifold block and disposed so as to be selectively in communication with the inlet and outlet passages of the manifold block as the cylinder block rotates, and in each of which a piston is reciprocated. The longitudinal axis of each cylinder is substantially inclined inwardly with respect to the common axis of the machine and with respect to the transverse plane perpendicular to the axis. Cam means is disposed about the stationary housing in association with each of the pistons to cause reciprocation of the pistons to accompany rotation of the rotary cylinder block and thus rotation of the rotary shaft. Specifically, the machine takes the form of an internal combustion engine having igniting means, such as a spark plug, disposed in the central manifold block between the inlet and outlet passages. In such case, the inlet passage becomes a fuel admission port and the outlet passage an exhaust passage for burned gasses.

I claim: 
     
       1. A rotary crankless machine having a rotary shaft, a rotary cylinder block, and a stationary housing, all concentrically disposed with respect to a common axis, said stationary housing having a central annular manifold block with inlet and outlet passages disposed approximately midway between the ends of said housing and extending inwardly from the outer annular wall of said housing, said annular manifold block having opposite surfaces facing the outer ends of said housing and having two opposed pairs of spaced openings, each of said pairs of openings extending through a different one of said opposite surfaces at a radial distance closer to the outer annular surface of said manifold block than to said common axis, said pairs of openings being connected together in sets, one set of openings communicating with said inlet passage and the other set of openings communicating with said outlet passage, said housing further having means for rotatably coupling together said rotary cylinder block and said shaft so that rotation of either one causes rotation of the other, and   said rotary cylinder block comprising two sets of oppositely directed cylinders each of which extends from adjacent an outer wall of said cylinder block inwardly towards said manifold block and through an inner surface of said cylinder block at the same radial distance from said common axis as the openings through the opposite surfaces of said manifold block, said inner surfaces conforming with said opposite surfaces and in sliding, sealing engagement therewith so that the inner ends of said cylinders are selectively brought into communication with said inlet and outlet passages of said manifold block as said cylinder block rotates, each of said cylinders having a longitudinal axis which is substantially inclined inwardly with respect to the common axis of said machine,   said cylinder block having a piston disposed in each of said cylinders each of which pistons has a piston head facing said manifold block and movable towards and away from said manifold block as the piston reciprocates within its cylinder,   and cam means disposed between said stationary housing and each of said pistons to cause reciprocation of said pistons to result in or accompany rotation of said rotary cylinder block and hence rotation of said rotary shaft.   
     
     
       2. The crankless machine of claim 1 in which the longitudinal axis of each cylinder is not only inclined with respect to the common axes of said machine but is also inclined with respect to any transverse plane perpendicular to said axis. 
     
     
       3. The crankless machine of claim 1 in which the cam means comprises two cylindrical sleeves fixed with respect to said housing and extending concentrically between said rotary cylinder block and said axle, there being one such sleeve for each such set of cylinders, each sleeve having a cam groove therein, and a plurality of cam followers, one for each of said pistons, extending from said pistons into cooperative relation with one of said cam grooves, said cam grooves extending completely around the stationary housing and being of such configuration as to produce the desired relationship between reciprocation of said pistons and rotation of said rotary cylinder block. 
     
     
       4. The rotary crankless machine of claim 1 in which the machine is an engine and in which a motive fluid is introduced into said inlet passage and exhausted from said outlet passage to cause reciprocation of said pistons and hence rotation of said cylinder block and the shaft rotatably coupled thereto. 
     
     
       5. The rotary crankless machine of claim 3 in which the engine is an internal combustion engine and in which the manifold block is provided with means disposed between said inlet and outlet passages for igniting a combustible fuel introduced into said inlet passage and compressed as one or more of said pistons approaches said manifold block. 
     
     
       6. The machine of claim 5 in which the means for igniting the fuel is an electrical spark plug extending through an outer wall of said manifold block. 
     
     
       7. The crankless machine of claim 1 in which the means for coupling said rotary cylinder block and said shaft includes a first gear secured to and concentric with said shaft, an annular rack secured to said rotary cylinder block concentrically with said shaft, and gears carried by an element of said stationary housing and meshing with both said first gear and said rack. 
     
     
       8. The machine of claim 1 in which each set of inwardly directed cylinders consists of four cylinders equally spaced about said cylinder block. 
     
     
       9. The machine of claim 1 in which the rotary cylindrical block has an annular groove extending inwardly from the outer surface thereof and in which said annular manifold block is located in said cylindrical block in seating engagement therewith.